October 6, 2017

Films that weren't, Buñuel / Renoir: Los Angeles

"...I spent two years in Hollywood from 1944 to 1946." — Luis Buñuel *"Buñuel and Man Ray planned a scenario, THE SEWER OF LOS ANGELES, whose action took place on a mountain of excrement close to a highway and a dust desert. The scheme was abortive; but later Man Ray managed to collaborate on a Surrealist film DREAMS THAT MONEY CAN BUY." (Francisco Aranda)"Dudley Nichols and (Jean Renoir) were considering a new version of LES BAS FONDS (THE LOWER DEPTHS). It was to be set in Los Angeles, based on the contrast between the modern buildings and the crumbling houses of the Victorian era. This, too, never saw the light of day. Dudley did not understand why." — Jean Renoir,Ma vie et mes films

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* 1940: "Every last person believes that America will enter the war next year and I hope to be at a distance from it. I can see myself defending the American flag in Hong Kong or resting for a few years in a concentration camp, and of course I'm getting out of here." L.B.